Menstruation could be messy and uncomfortable, typically attributable to leaky pads, tampons and cups. A new alginate-based powder might resolve that drawback. The fabric, which solidifies menstrual blood by turning it right into a gel combination, may cut back leakage in interval merchandise with out compromising capability, researchers report July 10 in Matter.
“Our paper is a proof of idea,” says Rogério Aparecido Bataglioli, a chemical engineer at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Earlier than getting used commercially, he says, the supplies would must be assessed for security and scalability.
Most menstrual pads use cellulose-based supplies to soak up interval blood. Although they’re efficient, many individuals who menstruate nonetheless wrestle with leakage and mess.
To resolve this drawback, the workforce turned to alginate, a naturally occurring substance derived from algae and seaweed. After the researchers screened a big pool of potential polysaccharides — lengthy chains of carbohydrate molecules — that would have blood-absorbing properties, alginate excelled at absorbing and gelling blood. It additionally has already been accredited by the Meals and Drug Administration to be used in prescribed drugs, meals and medical supplies.
To additional enhance the alginate’s absorption, the researchers added glycerol. They then examined the absorbency of those alginate-glycerol powders towards industrial absorbents by sandwiching every between sheets of gauze. The workforce dripped modified pig blood by way of a mannequin vagina to imitate menstruation earlier than performing a squeeze check on the blood-soaked supplies. Although each had been good at absorbing the blood, when the simulated interval pads with industrial absorbent had been compressed, it was “like squeezing a sponge,” says Bryan Hsu, a microbiologist at Virginia Tech. With the alginate materials, which gelled the blood, the pads leaked much less below stress.
Pad exams
To evaluate the leakage of alginate-based menstrual pads, researchers wrapped the brand new materials in gauze and dripped pig blood on it. They then calmly centrifuged the pads on high of effectively plates to imitate compression and accumulate the leakage. They did the identical factor for 3 different situations: no added materials, industrial pad fillers and polyacrylate, the business gold-standard superabsorbent polymer. Click on by way of the slideshow beneath to see how every fared.
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The workforce started with a management, dripping pig blood by way of gauze pads with no added materials. The blood seeped all through the gauze (left). When centrifuged over the effectively plate (proper), plenty of blood leaked out. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 -
They then moved on to industrial pad fillers, usually cellulose-based, and equally collected the post-centrifuge leakage in a effectively plate. The industrial fillers leaked much less than simply gauze, however nonetheless leaked fairly a bit. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 -
Researchers additionally examined polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer. When squeezed over the effectively plate, it leaked lower than both the gauze or the industrial filler. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 -
Lastly, they carried out the identical exams with their very own alginate-glycerol powder formulation. Visually, the quantity of squeezed-out blood collected within the effectively plate seems much like what come out of the polyacrylate. However measuring the amount of that blood revealed that the alginate-glycerol powder carried out the most effective within the leak check out of all 4 supplies. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024
The workforce additionally examined their new materials in menstrual cups. They packed the alginate-glycerol powder into an extended and slim cotton sheath that was then coiled round inside the cup. After the blood entered the menstrual cup and encountered the alginate, it gelled. Then, the blood could possibly be eliminated together with the cotton tube — and a brand new one could possibly be reinserted — with minimal liquid mess. In solidifying the menstrual blood right into a gel, Hsu says, the purpose is to make menstrual cup elimination and cleansing simpler and tidier.
One limitation of the examine, notes ob–gyn Abigail Liberty, is that the blood was defibrinated pig blood, which doesn’t include fibrin, a protein concerned in clotting. Although she applauds the workforce for utilizing blood as an alternative of one other mannequin fluid, menstrual blood is “completely different than blood that’s simply floating across the physique,” says Liberty, of Oregon Well being & Science College in Portland (SN: 4/16/24). “It’s secreted differently. It’s grown, it’s launched differently.”
As a result of a scarcity of analysis on menstrual care and interval merchandise, Bataglioli and colleagues didn’t have a base of experimental methods to attract from and adapt. As an alternative, they designed lots of their strategies from scratch. “That’s a message to the scientific neighborhood — there’s nothing on the market,” says Zeinab Hosseinidoust, a biomedical engineer at McMaster College in Hamilton, Canada. “Much more vital than the precise analysis that was completed is the message that this work sends.”
